fridaynightlights

Unlike 'Happy Days' or 'Fame' or 'Welcome Back, Kotter,' kids today do not remain in high school for life on television any more. No, today, the actors and their characters are chewed up and spit out in real time, just like life. That means we have to accept that 'Friday Night Lights'' Landry is leaving the show, and with that, Jesse Plemons is off the NBC show. Well, not totally. He'll be out of East Dillon High School, but still living in Dillon, Texas.

Executive producer Jason Katims says that Jesse will be on 'Friday Night Lights' for the fifth and final season, but not a regular. It'll be part-time, which isn't the worst situation. However, with his status as recurring and Taylor Kitsch as Tim definitely gone -- along with Zach Gilford as Matt and Scott Porter as Jason and Gaius Charles as Smash before them -- they're definitely breaking up that old Panther team from the first couple of seasons.

Sigh ... is it too soon to hope for a Dillion Panther Championship team reunion in the next decade?

'Nomads' sounds like a welcome departure from the network's recent teen girl-friendly fare. The show follows a group of broke, young (and probably very sexy) backpackers working secret missions for the CIA abroad.

While the Winter Olympics may not have offered viewers much in terms of surprises, they've certainly provided ratings analysts with some gasp-worthy news: The daily coverage from Vancouver has allowed NBC, much like Lazarus, to rise from the dead (read: perpetual fourth place in network ratings) and steal third place for the first time since 2004.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the Peacock has been averaging 26 million viewers per Olympics telecast, gaining 12 percent this season-to-date and unceremoniously dumping ABC into fourth position over the past 10 nights.

Is it a fluke? Maybe. THR is quick to point out that the Olympics are not necessarily a surefire launchpad for continued ratings stability. NBC's coverage of the 2008 Beijing Games, for example, failed to infuse its subsequent fall schedule with much pizazz, resulting in the cancellation of enthusiastically-hyped shows like 'My Own Worst Enemy.' And after the NBC's recent mid-game fumble with 'The Tonight Show,' confidence in the Peacock is at an all-time-low, with every jaded journalist in the blogosphere waiting to see how the network plans to recover.

With that in mind, we've compiled a list of five ways for NBC to maintain its momentum after the Olympic flame goes out.

February is Black History Month, and what better way to celebrate than to pay tribute to television's brightest young African-American actors.

Most of you are already fans of critically acclaimed vets like Chandra Wilson ('Grey's Anatomy'), Anthony Anderson ('Law & Order') and Regina King ('Southland'), but there is a new wave of up-and-coming black stars ready to make their mark. Here are 12 of our favorites. Who are yours?

In football terms, 'Friday Night Lights' has always been that scrappy squad that plays their hearts out even though they are badly overmatched by their opponents. And while everyone roots for an underdog, there's rarely a Hollywood ending.

Even in Hollywood.

Yes, according to Entertainment Weekly, the inevitable has finally occurred, as 'Friday Night Lights' has been unofficially canceled by NBC, which has informed the principal actors that their services will no longer be required after filming for season 5 ends.

However, you should be ecstatic. Quality TV like 'Friday Night Lights' deserves to be given its due and given the time to complete the stories it's been telling.

So, you can count on the Dillon football teams to mature with new players, the Taylor family to deal with Julie's impending leaving for college while Eric and Tami make it work back home, the Riggins men to face upheaval and a bunch of new characters to continue to fascinate, including Becky, Vince, Jess and Luke.

(S04E13) One of the stranger things about 'Friday Night Lights' airing on DirecTV -- before this same season airs on NBC starting April 30th -- is the fact that this was the season finale and it was all set around Thanksgiving. We may be contemplating Valentine's Day on other shows and in our own lives, but in Dillon, Texas, it's a Thanksgiving turkey feast, time to hang Christmas decorations outside the house, and -- oh, yes -- the big local high school football game. The Clash of the Cats - Lions versus Panthers. More about the game, the guests, and the tough decisions to be made after the jump.

In honor of Valentine's Day, AOL TV's staff will be revealing their crushes all week.

I am the envy of all my friends. I have DirecTV.

Well, let me clarify. I am the envy of all my 'Friday Night Lights'-loving friends, because having DirecTV means that for the past few months I've gotten to watch new episodes of 'FNL' months before they air on NBC. And this also means: Every Wednesday night, I get to revel in the glory that is Tim Riggins. And they don't.

Who is Tim Riggins, you ask? Wait, WHAT? You don't know Tim Riggins? Former Dillon Panthers fullback? That hard-drinking, hard-loving, truck-driving specimen of fine young manhood? Not since Jordan Catalano has a fictional teenage boy caused my heart rate to flutter so, like some epileptic hummingbird on a bender.

But perhaps my gushing all over your computer screen isn't sufficient. How do I love Tim Riggins? Let me count the ways.

Kelly, of course, was one of the breakout stars of 'Friday Night Lights,' but thanks to the nature of that show, her character had to be written out due to the pesky reality of high school graduation. Since then, Kelly has also appeared in the CW pilot 'Body Politic,' which the network surprisingly decided to pass on despite strong buzz in the media.

(S04E11) This was a rough episode of Friday Night Lights, filled with frustrating actions, characters doing things that make you want to yell at the screen, situations that shouldn't be happening at all. But this is Dillon, Texas and there's a world of drama going on even in a town seemingly as mundane as this one. It's not really just about football. It's about life.

(S04E10) There were some major developments in this episode of Friday Night Lights, especially among the younger set. And if you think life is just peachy keen for kids in high school, they aren't the ones attending East Dillon High. If you prefer the lighter, sweeter side of Friday Night Lights, this wasn't your night. Sadness was at every turn, none moreso that Becky and Vince and their very tough decisions.

As NBC entertainment president Jeff Gaspin explained earlier in the week, the slot will contain a combination of reality and scripted shows, and news. The pleasant surprises: Parenthood is slotted at 10 PM ET on Tuesdays, after NBC's hit The Biggest Loser. It starts March 2. Law & Orderstarts continues its season with a two-hour episode on March 1, and will settle into a Monday at 10 slot on March 8. SVU goes to Wednesdays at 10 on March 3, led in by reruns of the show.

On the reality front, Jerry Seinfeld's The Marriage Ref will air at 10 PM ET after the Thursday comedy block, starting March 4 (it sneak previews after the Olympic closing ceremonies on Feb. 28). And on Fridays, a two-hour Dateline will bow at 9, preceded first by the reality series Who Do You Think You Are, starting March 5, then Friday Night Lights on April 30.

(S04E09) This is a really interesting time in television because there are not one or two or three excellent dramatic TV shows, there are a dozen I could name off the top of my head. Somewhat overlooked -- thanks to NBC -- is Friday Night Lights.

Amid Lost, 24, House, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Dexter, Big Love, Damages, Sons of Anarchy, NCIS and others, the drama which some incorrectly think is just about Texas football, doesn't get its just desserts.

This was a typical episode of Friday Night Lights, layered with character development and conflicts, emotions out of whack, and problems that seem to crop up out of nowhere. It's a lot like life. For more on the show and what Tami and Eric were talking about in bed, follow me after the jump.

I have so many friends who seem stuck in jobs that are going nowhere. Maybe it's my age - which you can't expect me to confess. Suffice to say, my friends and I are of that age where most summer weekends are spent at weddings, and conversations are increasingly interrupted by the mewling of babies in the background. It's an age where your priorities shift away from painting the town red towards buying paint for the kids' room. And it's an age where you start to wonder if you'll always have a job, or if you'll ever get a career.

Sometimes it's hard to see the truth of what's going on in your own life, and easier to judge the lives of others. Like the fictional others of television shows. If you find yourself relating especially closely to any of the following, it might be time to spruce up your resume.

Women will be weeping on the streets of Dillon tonight. 'Friday Night Lights' is set to lose another member of its original cast as hunky Taylor Kitsch will not be returning as a series regular next season, TV Guide confirms.

Kitsch, who plays resident bad-boy-with-a-heart-of-gold Tim Riggins, will be departing the series to focus on his upcoming big screen parts, most notably the titular role in upcoming sci-fi remake 'John Carter of Mars,' according to executive producer Jason Katims.